Nash, (Richard,) commonly called Beau Nash, or King of Bath, a celebrated leader of the fashions in England. He was born at Swansea, in South Wales, October 8, 1674, and died in the city of Bath, (England,) February 3, 1761.

Natural History, the history of animals, plants, and minerals.

Natural Philosophy, the science which treats of the powers of Nature, the properties of natural bodies, and their action one upon another. It is sometimes called physics.

New-milch cow, a cow which has recently calved.

Newton, (Sir Isaac,) an eminent English philosopher and mathematician, who was born on Christmas day, 1642, and died March 20, 1727. He was much distinguished for his very important discoveries in Optics and other branches of Natural Philosophy. See the first volume of 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties,' forming the fourteenth volume of 'The School Library,' Larger Series.

Non-bearers, plants which bear no flowers nor fruit.

Northern States, those of the United States situated in the Northern and Eastern part of the Country.

Ordinary, see Physician in Ordinary.

Oil of Vitriol, (sulphuric acid, or vitriolic acid,) an acid composed of oxygen and sulphur.

Orleans, (Elizabeth Charlotte de Bavière,) Duchess of, second wife of Philippe, the brother of Louis XIV., was born at Heidelberg, May 26, 1652, and died at the palace of St. Cloud, in Paris, December 8, 1722. She was author of several works; among which were, Memoirs, and Anecdotes, of the Court of Louis XIV.

Ottoman, a kind of hassock, or thick mat, for kneeling upon; so called, from being used by the Ottomans or Turks.

Oxalic acid, a vegetable acid, which exists in sorrel.

Oxide, a compound (which is not acid) of a substance with oxygen; for example, oxide of iron, or rust of metals.

Oxidize, to combine oxygen with a body without producing acidity.

Oxygen, vital air, a simple and very important substance, which exists in the atmosphere, and supports the breathing of animals and the burning of combustibles. It was called oxygen, from two Greek words, signifying to produce acid, from its power of giving acidity to many compounds in which it predominates.

Oxygenized, combined with oxygen.

Pancreas, a gland within the abdomen, just below and behind the stomach, and providing a fluid to assist digestion. In animals, it is called the sweet-bread. Pancreatic, belonging to the pancreas.

Parterre, a level division of ground, a flower garden.

Pearlash, the common name for impure carbonate of potash, which, in a purer form, is called Sal æratus.

Peristaltic, worm-like.

Philosophy, see Intellectual, Moral, and Natural.

Physician in Ordinary to the Queen, the Physician who attends the Queen in ordinary cases of illness.

Pistil, that part of a flower, generally in the centre, composed of the germ, style, and stigma, which receives the pollen or fertilizing dust of the stamens.

Pitt, William, a celebrated English statesman, son of the Earl of Chatham. He was born, May 28, 1759, and at the age of twenty-three, was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and soon afterward, Prime Minister. He died, January 23, 1806.

Political Economy, the science which treats of the general causes affecting the production, distribution, and consumption, of articles of exchangeable value, in reference to their effects upon national wealth and welfare.

Pollen, the fertilizing dust of flowers, produced by the stamens, and falling upon the pistils, in order to render a flower capable of producing fruit or seed.

Potter's clay, the clay used in making articles of pottery.

Prairie, a French word, signifying meadow. In the United States, it is applied to the remarkable natural meadows, or plains, which are found in the Western States. In some of these vast and nearly level plains, the traveller may wander for days, without meeting with wood or water, and see no object rising above the plane of the horizon. They are very fertile.

Prime Minister, the person appointed by the ruler of a nation to have the chief direction and management of the public affairs.

Process, a protuberance, or projecting part of a bone.

Pulmonary, belonging to, or affecting, the lungs. Pulmonary artery, an artery which passes through the lungs, being divided into several branches, which form a beautiful network over the air-vessels, and finally empty themselves into the left auricle of the heart.

Puritans, a sect, which professed to follow the pure word of God, in opposition to traditions, human constitutions, and other authorities. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, part of the Protestants were desirous of introducing a simpler, and, as they considered it, a purer, form of church government and worship, than that established by law; from which circumstance, they were called Puritans. In process of time, this party increased in numbers, and openly broke off from the Church, laying aside the English liturgy, and adopting a service-book published at Geneva, by the disciples of Calvin. They were treated with great rigor by the Government, and many of them left the kingdom and settled in Holland. Finding themselves not so eligibly situated in that Country, as they had expected to be, a portion of them embarked for America, and were the first settlers of New England.

Quixotic, absurd, romantic, ridiculous; from Don Quixote, the hero of a celebrated fictitious work, written by Cervantes, a distinguished Spanish writer, and intended to reform the tastes and opinions of his countrymen.

Reeking, smoking, emitting vapor.

Residuum, the remainder, or part which remains.

Routine, a round, or course of engagements, business, pleasure, &c.

To Run a seam, to lay the two edges of a seam together, and pass the threaded needle out and in, with small stitches, a few threads below the edge, and on a line with it.

To Run a stocking, to pass a thread of yarn, with a needle, straight along each row of the stocking, as far as is desired, taking up one loop and missing two or three, until the row is completed, so as to double the thickness at the part which is run.

Sabbatical year, every seventh year, among the Jews, which was a year of rest for the land, when it was to be left without culture. In this year, all debts were to be remitted, and slaves set at liberty. See Exodus xxi. 2, xxiii. 10, Leviticus xxv. 2, 3, &c., Deuteronomy xv. 12, and other similar passages.

Sal æratus, see Pearlash.

Sal ammoniac, a salt, called also muriate of ammonia, which derives its name from a district in Libya, Egypt, where there was a temple of Jupiter Ammon, and where this salt was found.

Scotch Highlanders, inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland.

Selvedge, the edge of cloth, a border. Improperly written selvage.

Service-book, a book prescribing the order of public services in a church or congregation.

Sharps, see Blunts.

Shorts, the coarser part of wheat bran.

Shrubbery, a plantation of shrubs.

Siberia, a large country in the extreme northern part of Asia, having the Frozen Ocean on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east, and forming a part of the Russian empire. The northern part is extremely cold, almost uncultivated, and contains but few inhabitants. It furnishes fine skins, and some of the most valuable furs in the world. It also contains rich mines of iron and copper, and several kinds of precious stones.

Sinclair, Sir John, of whom it was said, "There is no greater name in the annals of agriculture, than his," was born in Caithness, Scotland, May 10, 1754, and became a member of the British Parliament in 1780. He was strongly opposed to the measures of the British Government towards America, which produced the American Revolution. He was author of many valuable publications, on various subjects. He died December 21, 1835.

Sirloin, the loin of beef. The appellation 'Sir' is the title of a knight, or baronet; and has been added to the word 'loin,' when applied to beef, because a King of England, in a freak of good humor, once conferred the honor of knighthood upon a loin of beef.

Slack, to loosen, to relax, to deprive of cohesion.

Soda, an alkali, usually obtained from the ashes of marine plants.

To Spade, to throw out earth with a spade.

Spermaceti, an oily substance, found in the head of a species of whale, called the spermaceti whale.

Spindling, see page 124.

Spinous process, a process or bony protuberance, resembling a spine or thorn, whence it derives its name.

Spool, a piece of cane or reed, or a hollow cylinder of wood, with a ridge at each end, used to wind yarn and thread upon.

Stamen, (plural stamens and stamina,) in weaving, the warp, the thread, any thing made of threads. In botany, that part of a flower, on which the artificial classification is founded, consisting of the filament or stalk, and the anther, which contains the pollen, or fructifying powder.

Stigma, (plural stigmas and stigmata,) the summit or top of the pistil of a flower.

Style, or Stile, the part of the pistil between the germ and the stigma.

Sub-carbonate, an imperfect carbonate.

Sulphates, Sulphats, Sulphites, salts formed by the combination of some base with sulphuric acid, as Sulphate of copper, (blue vitriol, or blue stone,) a combination of sulphuric acid with copper. Sulphate of iron, copperas, or green vitriol. Sulphate of lime, gypsum, or plaster of Paris. Sulphate of magnesia, Epsom salts. Sulphate of potash, a chemical salt, composed of sulphuric acid and potash. Sulphate of soda, Glauber's salts. Sulphate of zinc, white vitriol.

Sulphuret, a combination of an alkaline earth or metal with sulphur as, Sulphuret of iron, a combination of iron and sulphur.

Sulphuric acid, oil of vitriol, vitriolic acid.

Suture, a sewing; the uniting of parts by stitching; the seam or joint which unites the flat bones of the skull, which are notched like the teeth of a saw, and the notches, being united together, present the appearance of a seam.

Tartar, a substance, deposited on the inside of wine casks, consisting chiefly of tartaric acid and potash. Cream of tartar, the crude tartar separated from all its impurities, by being dissolved in water and then crystallized, when it becomes a perfectly white powder.

Tartaric acid, a vegetable acid which exists in the grape.

Technology, a description of the arts, considered generally, in their theory and practice, as connected with moral, political, and physical science.

Three great Jewish yearly festivals, see Festivals.

Three-ply, or triple ingrain, a kind of carpeting, in which the threads are woven in such a manner as to make three thicknesses of the cloth.

Tic douloureux, a painful affection of the nerves, mostly those of the face.

Tocqueville, (Alexis de,) a celebrated living statesman and writer of France, and author of volumes on the Political Condition, and the Penitentiaries, of the United States, and other works.

Trachea, the windpipe, so named (from a Greek word signifying rough) from the roughness, or inequalities, of the cartilages of which it is formed.

Truckle-bed, or trundle-bed, a bed that runs on wheels.

Tuber, a solid, fleshy, roundish root, like the potato. Tuberous, thick and fleshy; composed of, or having, tubers.

Tucks, (improperly tacks,) folds in garments.

Turmeric, the root of a plant called Curcuma longa, a native of the East Indies, used as a yellow dye.

Twaddle, idle, foolish talk, or conversation.

Unbolted, unsifted.

Unslacked, not loosened, or deprived of cohesion. Lime, when it has been slacked, crumbles to powder, from being deprived of cohesion.

Valance, the drapery or fringe hanging round the cover of a bed, couch, or other similar article.

Vascular, relating to, or full of, vessels.

Venetian, a kind of carpeting, composed of a striped woollen warp on a thick woof of linen thread.

Verisimilitude, probability, resemblance to truth.

Verbatim, word for word.

Vice versa, the side being changed, or the question reversed, or the terms being exchanged.

Viscera, (plural of viscus,) organs contained in the abdomen and in the chest.

Vitriol, a compound mineral salt, of a very caustic taste. Blue vitriol, sulphate of copper. Green vitriol, see Copperas. Oil of vitriol, sulphuric acid. White vitriol, sulphate of zinc.

Waffle-iron, an iron utensil for the purpose of baking waffles, which are thin and soft cakes indented by the iron in which they are baked.

Washleather, a soft, pliable leather, dressed with oil, and in such a way, that it may be washed, without shrinking. It is used for various articles of dress, as under-shirts, drawers, &c., and also for rubbing silver, and other articles having a high polish. The article known, in commerce, as chamois, or shammy, leather, is also called wash-leather.

Welting cord, a cord sewed into the welt or border of a garment.

The West, or Western World. When used in Europe, or in distinction from the Eastern World, it means America. When used in this Country, the West refers to the Western States of the Union. Western Wilds, the wild, thinly-settled lands of the Western States.

White vitriol, see Zinc.

Wilton carpet, a kind of carpets, made in England, and so called from the place which is the chief seat of their manufacture. They are woollen velvets, with variegated colors.

Writ of lunacy, see Lunacy.

Xantippe, the wife of Socrates, noted for her violent temper and scolding propensities. The name is frequently applied to a shrew, or peevish, turbulent, scolding woman.

Zinc, a blueish-white metal, which is used as a constituent of brass, and some other alloys. Sulphate of zinc, or White vitriol, a combination of zinc with sulphuric acid.